


Setting Sail

by amirthfulgirl



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barisi on a cruise, Climbing, Dancing, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Implied Smut, M/M, bed sharing, lots of pools, romantic dinner, room sharing, they somehow won a cruise don’t ask, with the squad, working out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28432722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirthfulgirl/pseuds/amirthfulgirl
Summary: The squad has won a group trip for a cruise in the Caribbean. Rafael is invited as well and ends up having to share a room with a certain detective.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	Setting Sail

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Well it looks like I wrote a very long story (I don’t know how that happened) of Barisi on a cruise inspired by an idea from Kat!  
> I’ve personally never been on a cruise, so I have absolutely no idea what you do on a cruise or anything. I did a little bit of research but I’m sure there are still a few inaccuracies regarding cruises and cruise ships here but just ignore them please. 👀  
> Anyway this was a lot of fun to write and I cannot believe I actually wrote a 10k story! This is separated into seven days but it’s just one story and not chapters, I hope that’s okay.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it and I’m happy about kudos and feedback!
> 
> English isn’t my first language so once again sorry for any mistakes.

Rafael had no idea why he had agreed that he was apparently part of the squad and therefore eligible to go on a cruise together with the SVU detectives that they had won god knows how. It was always interesting to see what the NYPD did with their money.

So here he was on a Sunday afternoon, standing in the lobby of a huge cruise ship with Olivia, Amanda, Fin and Sonny by his side. They had all agreed that it’d only be appropriate to all call each other by their first names considering that they were gonna spend a week together on a cruise ship.

Neither of them had the amount of vacation days left to add a bit of exploration time at the beginning or end of the cruise so their holiday would really only consist of the cruise itself that’d take them through the Caribbeans for a week.

While Rafael had been excited about the free holiday at first he wasn’t so sure anymore now, looking at the overexcited faces of the detectives, knowing they probably wouldn’t leave him alone for a second.  
But the worst was just about to come.

“Apparently there has been a bit of a mix up with our reservation and instead of getting us 5 single rooms, we got 3 single rooms and a double so two of us will have to share.” Olivia announced to the group gathered around her, holding up three keys in one hand and one in the other.  
“That definitely isn’t me.” Fin bailed out immediately and taking one of the single room keys.  
“Yeah that’s a no from me as well.” Amanda said quickly and grabbing another key, leaving the choice between Olivia, Rafael and Sonny.

Rafael looked at Olivia pleadingly not to do this to him but as a small smirk spread across Olivia’s lips he knew he was fucked. He vowed himself once again to never drunkenly admit any of his interests to her again because one of them was standing next to him and he was about to be put in a double room with him for a week.

“Well I think as the boss of the group I deserve a single room too and I’m sure you two can exchange some legal insights during the time so there you go.” Olivia smiled at Rafael mischievously holding out the key to him but Sonny grabbed it before he could stretch out his fingers.  
“Yes no problem, Lieu, I’m sure we’ll manage.” Sonny said with a bright smile. On some days Rafael really questioned himself how he could be so interested in the other man considering his overeagerness and absolutely hideous turquoise Hawaiian shirt with huge pink flowers he was wearing right now. But he also knew that he was absolutely hopeless with the detective, and Sonny could wear absolutely anything and Rafael would still like him to an extreme extent.  
Rafael had stuck to a simple grey polo and khaki pants for now, not willing to get into the full cruise ship mood like the detective.

“Okay so there’s nothing planned for today so you can all check out your rooms and explore the ship before we meet for dinner.” Olivia announced with a bright smile before making her way to one of the elevators. The others following after her having to get to a different deck as well.

“We’re down here, Counselor.” Sonny motioned towards a different hallway than the one the other detectives had disappeared in.  
“You know you’re supposed to call me Rafael, Sonny.” Rafael just answered before following the detective, not daring to say much more before actually seeing the room.

Which was probably smart considering the room was tiny. He had no idea how anyone could claim that room was a double because there was no way two people comfortably fit into that room.  
“Looks like a big double room.” Rafael remarked bitterly before walking past Sonny into the room.  
“Uh yeah not the biggest but I’m certain it’ll be okay.” Sonny tried to reassure but his face said differently, looking around the room warily.

Rafael had put his suitcase up on the luggage rack that had been leaning against the wall.  
“I don’t know if you plan to live out of your suitcase or not but I’ll definitely use the closet and I cannot say for certain that there’ll be enough space for both of our clothes in it.”  
“Uh I may wanna hang up the one suit I brought but besides that it’s okay, you can use it.” Sonny had leaned his suitcase against one wall and now squeezed his way past Rafael to look out of the small window provided.  
The very small room unfortunately also didn’t include a balcony so there was no way Rafael would spend a lot of time here. Not to mention the very small bed that was definitely meant for a couple to sleep in and not two people that were strictly co-workers.

Rafael finished his unpacking rather quickly and then offered up the luggage rack for Sonny to put his bag up there, placing his own empty one next to the closet.  
The detective didn’t bother unpacking much though and was looking expectantly at Rafael as he came out of the (also very tiny) bathroom.  
“I wanna go explore the things to do a bit before dinner. Do you wanna come with me or stay here?”  
“I’ll come with you. It’s not like you can really do anything in this hole.” Rafael agreed with a disgruntled look around their room.

After checking by the reception again to get a second key for the room, they started their exploratory tour. The ship had basically everything you could ask for, there was a large pool area on the top deck with a bar attached to it, there was another bar on a lower deck, a gym, a library (much to Rafael’s delight), several restaurants, a spa area and lots more rooms with all kinds of activities.  
Rafael wasn’t entirely sure which activities were included in the package the squad had won but he was convinced he would have an opportunity to try out a lot of them over the coming days.  
Sonny seemed particularly happy about the pool area and held the conversation most of the walk, first talking about the new swimming wear he bought for the cruise and then about a water park he used to go to as a kid. Rafael didn’t quite know why he didn’t stop the mindless ramble the detective was on but he could probably guess why.

Rafael had to admit despite the shock of the room selection, the rest of his afternoon was quite enjoyable and he had the slight hope that it won’t actually be that bad to share the room with the other man. Maybe he also had that little bit of hope that this will open the door for something more.

Olivia texted them the name of the restaurant they were gonna eat at tonight in the cruise ship group chat and also added that it was okay to show up a bit more casually dressed so Rafael deemed his outfit okay. He was not so sure about Sonny’s outfit though with the shirt and all but he didn’t want to find out what other horrible shirts the detective had packed so he agreed with Sonny’s suggestion to go directly to the restaurant and not pass by their room again.

“So how was your afternoon?” Amanda asked curiously in Sonny and Rafael’s direction when they were all seated.  
“It was good actually, we checked out some of the possibilities here.” Rafael answered shortly before Sonny could break out into a too long rant.  
“And how’s the room?” Olivia pressed with a mischievous smile.  
“Definitely not big.” Rafael grumbled.  
“But I think it’ll be okay, Lieu.” Sonny added with a small smile in Rafael’s direction and Rafael was sure he felt his heart flutter a little bit.  
“I’m glad to hear that, sorry about the little inconvenience.” Rafael just rolled his eyes at Olivia’s comment, knowing very well that she wasn’t actually particularly sorry.

The conversation during dinner flowed easily, everyone mentioning what they were most excited about. Olivia also mentioned that while most of the day tomorrow would still be free for exploration that they would have dinner while watching a show in the evening. Rafael was glad to hear that, he didn’t mind watching a good show occasionally and that definitely sounded like a bearable activity.

They bid their good nights after dinner, Fin and Amanda wanting to check out the bar while Olivia, Sonny and Rafael were ready to head to their rooms after a long day of travelling. 

“Is it okay if I sleep on the right?” Sonny asked as he was unbuttoning his shirt.  
Rafael was very distracted by the naked skin becoming visible where Sonny was parting his buttons so it took him a moment longer to process what Sonny had asked.  
“Uh yeah sure. I’m just gonna use the bathroom first, okay?” Rafael quickly added already making his way over, not wanting to see the detective’s naked chest before their first night sleeping in the same bed for the next six nights.

Sonny used the bathroom after him, wearing a plain white undershirt and black boxers for bed apparently, before slipping under the covers where Rafael was already lying facing away from Sonny’s side.  
“Good night, Rafael.”  
Rafael grumbled a good night wish in response before turning his light off, a mix of excitement and anxiousness before the next days sitting in his stomach.

~~~

Rafael woke up the next morning wrapped up in warmth. It took his mind a few more seconds to register that the warmth didn’t come from some blanket but from the man that had his arms wrapped around his middle and his chest pressed close to Rafael’s back.  
It was probably the most comfortable way Rafael had woken up in in quite some time.

But then Sonny stirred awake too, pulling his arms away from around Rafael.  
“Sorry, sorry about that. I always tend to use up all the bed and cuddle whatever is there.” Sonny chuckled awkwardly.  
Rafael finally turned on his back and looked over at the other man who was holding himself up on one arm looking over at Rafael. “It’s okay. No problem, it’s only a few nights.” Rafael answered trying to sound reassuring before getting up and going to the bathroom, ready to get out of that awkward situation.

At breakfast they all compared their ideas what to do with the day and it was clear pretty quickly that everyone wanted to check out the pool area first.  
“I hope there’s a hot tub area too, no need to stay around you kids longer.” Fin commented dryly as Amanda and Sonny were already arguing which water slide to try out.

After the hideous shirt from the previous day, Rafael was glad that Sonny had already told him what his swimming wear would look like and so he knew that it wouldn’t be quite as bad.  
The dark blue swimming shorts pattered with small white anchors looked good on the detective as he stepped out of the bathroom with sun screen in hand.  
“Would you mind putting some of this on my back? As you can see my complexion isn’t quite that great for too much sun.” Sonny asked tentatively, holding out the lotion.  
Rafael agreed with a shrug of his shoulder, too distracted by the naked torso with the slightest hint of abs and pink nipples standing out from his light skin. It hopefully wouldn’t be too bad.

It was though. Feeling the soft skin of the other man under his fingers was a whole new experience. Rafael was willing to put sun screen on Sonny all day if it meant that he could trail his fingers along his well-toned back.  
“Uh I think that’s enough for now, Rafael.” Sonny chimed in after a few minutes of Rafael barely adding more sun screen to any part of Sonny’s back.

“Do you need help with sun screen?” Sonny asked after turning around again, motioning at Rafael’s body.  
Rafael had changed while Sonny had been in the bathroom so the detective had actually not gotten an eye full of him yet. Rafael had simple dark blue trunks on with a red lace at the waistband and a baby pink polo shirt on.  
“No I think I’m gonna be okay. I put a bit on my face and my arms.” Rafael gave Sonny a grateful smile. “Are you ready to go?”  
“Yes. I’ll just get my book and my shirt.” Sonny said, the excitement back in full form.

They found the others in the pool area rather quickly. Fin was already relaxing in one of the hot tubs while Olivia and Amanda where enjoying their sunbeds.  
Rafael quickly made himself comfortable on the one next to Olivia already pulling out his book out of the small pool bag they had had in the room.  
“Is their a height limit for the water slides. I’m pretty sure Sonny’s too tall for them.” Olivia chuckled as Sonny and Amanda took off towards one of the water slides.

Amanda was worn out pretty quickly though and Olivia joined her in the main pool which left Rafael alone trying to focus on his book but occasionally distracted by Sonny passing their sunbeds ready for another waterslide.  
But as he was about to pass Rafael again, he actually stopped looking at Rafael expectantly.  
“Are you not coming into the pool, counselor?”  
“I’m actually fine here and someone has to watch our stuff.” Rafael tried to excuse himself.  
But as he was speaking, Fin was on his way over again, clearly ready to enjoy his sunbed now.  
“Oh I’m sure Fin can look after it. Come on, Rafael, it’ll be fun!” Sonny actually held out his hand to Rafael now as a help to get up.  
And after greeting Fin he disgruntledly took the hand.

He pulled of his shirt and immediately felt self-conscious about the little extra weight he was sporting at his belly. But he knew there was no point in trying to cover himself again now so he confidently strutted over to the steps leading into the pool, the detective trailing behind him.  
“You’re looking good, Rafael.” Sonny finally said again as they were stepping into the pool, letting his eyes trail along Rafael’s body from the side. That certainly gave Rafael’s ego a little boost, being admired by a much younger and much better looking man.  
“Thanks. You too, Sonny.” Rafael replied smirking, letting his hand rest on his shoulder for a moment before pushing of the stairs and sliding into the water.

He couldn’t swim very far considering the reasonable size of the pool and the amount of other people in it but he made it a few meters to a more quiet corner. Sonny caught up to him soon after.  
They stayed in their corner for a bit before swimming around again and also joining Olivia and Amanda for some idle banter.  
Rafael genuinely enjoyed the time at the pool, finally getting into a bit of the holiday spirit some of the others had already been in a week ago when they were still working in New York.

The group all had lunch at the pool bar before Rafael immersed himself in his book. He had wanted to read it for ages but with his jobs there had barely been time recently to find a free day.  
Rafael made his way back to the room before Sonny, hoping to use the bathroom before the other man was back and get ready for their evening event.

As he was stepping out of the bathroom though drying his hair with a towel and certain that he hadn’t heard someone get into the room while he had been in the shower, he was walking right in on Sonny sitting on their bed playing on his phone. But Sonny looked up as a basically naked Rafael stepped into the room.  
Considering the towel was partially blocking his view, it took him way too long to register the other man before freezing in the middle of the room and then quickly covering himself with a loud “Fuck.”

Sonny was still quite obviously looking at Rafael’s crotch while Rafael’s mind tried to catch up with what was happening.  
“Sorry sorry sorry. I didn’t know you were already back. Would you mind giving me these?” He motioned over to the boxers lying on his side of the bed next to the outfit he had picked out for the night.  
“Uh... yeah sure. I- You- sorry.” Sonny quickly grabbed the boxers, throwing them over to Rafael but completely missing his target.  
Rafael wasn’t sure if the detective had done that on purpose but he didn’t miss the small whimper that escaped his lips as Rafael was bending down to pick up his boxers, his naked behind on full display.

Only finally on their way to meet the others, Sonny spoke up again.  
“I think we should probably create some rules so the situation from earlier won’t happen again.”  
“Yes that would be a good idea. I’m sorry about earlier. I’ll definitely take my boxers with me to the bathroom next time.”  
“It’s okay, you didn’t know I was back again. But yes that would probably be a good idea if we always do that.” Sonny agreed with a tight smile before dropping the topic again, glad to spot the others waiting for them at the end of the hallway.

“So we have two tables because there are no tables for five. One is for three and one for two but I think they are next to each other.” Olivia motioned to two round tables at the edge of the second row.  
“You two are already used to sharing why don’t you take the table for two.” Amanda grinned at Sonny and Rafael.  
Rafael wanted to protest but Fin and Amanda had already sat down at the table for three before Rafael could react.  
Olivia had her hands on the back of the third chair already but she looked at them expectantly waiting for their agreement.  
“Yeah fine sure.” Rafael agreed, ready to just get something nice to eat.

Despite the awkwardness from earlier still lingering between them, Rafael and Sonny fell into a comfortable conversation quickly, Sonny talking about his holidays as a kid and even Rafael telling a story about visiting family in Miami in the holidays as a kid.  
It was eventually cut short by the beginning of the show but that didn’t hold Sonny back from whispering remarks about the performance in Rafael’s ear causing the older man to laugh, resulting in them getting thrown an angry look from one of the other guests sitting in front of them. 

As they were about to part ways with the others after the show, Olivia questioned him quietly if he was glad he came with the squad now, pointedly looking into Sonny’s direction. Rafael just shrugged with a smirk before bidding her good night.  
Back in the room as Rafael was lying in bed ready to fall asleep, he had to admit that he was indeed quite happy to be on the trip and was excited what was about to happen the next days, especially with the man that was slipping under the covers next to him.

~~~

Rafael woke up the next morning not as wrapped in Sonny’s arms as the day before. Only one arm was draped over his chest, Sonny lying sprawled out on his stomach next to him all limps stretched out.  
With his hair ruffled and his face still relaxed from sleep it was quite a sight to wake up to and Rafael was sure that the day was gonna be good.

Or at least until Olivia announced at breakfast they were gonna have a group activity in the morning. The activity being them getting a group lesson at the rock climbing wall.  
It was a trip sponsored by the police force after all so maybe Rafael shouldn’t have been that surprised.

“I want you all to pair up for the time being, so we always have one who is securing and one who’s climbing. I can pair up with one of you as well.” The instructor told them after he had put all of them in extremely uncomfortable climbing sets.  
Sonny looked at him expectantly, hoping for Rafael to make the move to pair up and reluctantly he took a step over to the other man. At least he had a handsome man next to him that would distract from his awful attempts at climbing.

After getting some more instructions Sonny was happy to start and could even easily hold his own against the coach who was climbing next to him, having paired up with Olivia.  
If Sonny was trying to impress Rafael he was successful because there was no way Rafael could do that even remotely as good and Rafael had to admit the view from below Sonny wasn’t so bad either.  
He averted his gaze though as he heard Olivia giggling beside him and still grinning at him even as he shot her a glare.

But then unfortunately his turn came. He made it on the first set of stones but he struggled to climb further.  
“Come on, Rafael. Grab that one over there and then put your foot here.” Sonny motioned to two stones on the wall.  
Rafael managed to grab the one by his hand but he was too afraid to move his foot for now.  
“Here I’ll help you.” Sonny gently grabbed him at his ankle and holding out his hand for Rafael to put his foot on so he could lift him up.  
Rafael did so and let out a sigh of relief as he felt a stone beneath his foot again. Sonny had placed his hand gently at his back holding him in place not bothering with the ropes too much for now considering Rafael was barely a few feet above the mattress.

“Now you do it with the other hand and foot.” Sonny smiled at him encouragingly.  
The sight of the dimples crazing the other man’s cheeks was motivation enough for now and he moved his other hand to a stone slightly higher.  
But when he tried to move his foot he missed the stone he was attempting for which caused him to lose his balance.  
“I got you, all good.” Sonny had placed his other hand at Rafael’s waist as well holding him in place so Rafael could find his footing again. Rafael’s shirt had ridden up a bit because of his arms stretched out above him so Sonny’s hand was resting on Rafael’s naked waist and Rafael wanted to lean into the touch so badly.

“Uh... can I... can I get down, Sonny?”  
“You sure? You’re doing great right now! But if you want to. Do you wanna climb down or should I catch you?” Sonny grinned at the last comment, slowly removing his hands from Rafael’s back and waist to hold out his arms.  
“Maybe just help me down.” Rafael looked at him slightly annoyed.  
“Okay, okay. I’ll hold you and pull you down, okay?” Rafael just nodded, his desire to get out of the situation a lot bigger than to say anything right now.  
Sonny grabbed Rafael by his waist after that and quite literally pulled him down. Sonny managed to drip over one of the ropes while stepping back with Rafael though which caused them both to fall on their backs, Rafael landing on Sonny’s chest.

“Sorry sorry Rafael. Are you okay? I dripped, I’m sorry.”  
Sonny apologised moving Rafael off himself and beside him before leaning over.  
“Yes yes it’s all good. But I’m never doing that again.” Rafael replied with a tired smile before looking up.  
Sonny’s face was basically directly over his, he would only have to lift his head a bit and their lips would meet. Sonny’s eyes briefly flicked down to Rafael’s lips clearly tempted.

A loud cough from the side made them jump apart though.  
“Guys, you okay?” Amanda said with a raised eyebrow.  
“Uh yeah yeah, all good.” Sonny replied, quickly getting up and holding out a hand for Rafael who took it gratefully.  
“Do you mind if I climb a bit more?” He asked the other man.  
“No, go ahead, I’ll secure you.” Rafael motioned to the ropes.  
“Okay great!” Sonny beamed widely at him before turning back to the climbing wall.  
Rafael was still trying to process what had just happened there on the floor but it was probably for the better if he made sure that Sonny wouldn’t hurt himself climbing first.

After a shower in the room and checking that he really didn’t hurt himself, Rafael found himself a quiet place in one of the bars with a glass of scotch and his book, hoping to get some quiet time after the morning.  
But the quiet time was destroyed by Olivia walking into the bar.  
“There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you.”  
“Needed a bit of a break after this morning.” Rafael said with a sigh, putting a bookmark at the page he was at before putting his book down.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” Olivia said with a determined look in her eyes which told Rafael he wouldn’t get away from this so easily. Olivia sat herself down in the leather chair next to him, waiting for him to answer.  
“What is there to talk about? We’ve all clearly seen today who’s the one who isn’t a police detective of the five of us.”  
“Rafael. You know exactly what I wanna talk about.”  
“There’s nothing to talk about.”  
Olivia just looked at him expectantly.  
“Let me rephrase I don’t wanna talk about it.”  
“Rafael, I’m your best friend and I wanna know what’s going on between you and my detective and also possibly how you feel about him.”

Rafael felt a light blush creeping up his cheek at the actual mention of the other man now.  
“I like him. A lot. You know that Liv. And you also may know that we’ve been sharing a room for the past two days and I’m on a cruise with him. So I think you can add that up yourself.” Rafael gulped down the rest of his scotch before picking up his book again. “Is there anything else you wanna know, Liv?”  
“No I think we’re good. But I don’t think you need to start with your book again for now, there’s more company on his way here.”

Rafael looked around the room at that comment just as Olivia was getting up and leaving and he spotted the very man he had just been talking about with Olivia at the bar accepting the beer the bartender had just handed him.  
Their eyes met across the room and the detective smiled at him before coming over to him.

“I’m not surprised to see you here, Rafael.” Sonny said in lieu of a greeting with a grin.  
“Well I’m kinda surprised you are here, Sonny.” Rafael shot back.  
“Oh I needed a break too and took a guess where I’d find you.”  
“Why would you want to find me?” Rafael asked curiously but with a small smirk playing across his lips.  
Sonny looked at him surprised at that question, trying to come up with an answer. “Uh... just... you know wanted to hang out with you.”  
“Okay sure. But I actually wanna read my book, so if you don’t mind I’ll be a bit occupied.”  
“Yes sure that’s okay. I actually wanted to listen to a podcast so all good.” Sonny smiled at him holding up his phone with his headphones dangling in the air.

Sonny was actually quite pleasant company for the afternoon. They both eventually abandoned their book or podcast because as it turned out the latter was a law podcast so Sonny was interested in Rafael’s opinion on some of the topics mentioned. So their afternoon went how a lot of late nights in Rafael’s office in New York also went, and at least as much if not even more pleasant than those.

Dinner went by quickly as well despite Rafael feeling Olivia’s eyes on him constantly and her observing Sonny’s and Rafael’s interactions. But she didn’t bother him with questions again that night so Rafael was happy to let it slide.  
When he was finally lying in bed again later, he couldn’t help but replay that moment from the climbing wall.  
Sonny seemed affected by all their close interactions too. And seeing the other man stepping out of the bathroom just now, made Rafael’s heart jump a little bit.

“Uh so I had a little fight with the toothpaste and the shirt is basically ruined.” Sonny pulled at the front of his shirt to show quite a big stain there. “So would it be okay if I only sleep in boxers?”  
Rafael knew this would probably be a bad idea sooner or later but he agreed anyway and seeing that toned torso again, he had to remind himself to breathe, knowing that Sonny would be lying next to him like that all night.

Sonny however didn’t seem bothered by Rafael’s breathing struggles and slipped under the covers, turning over to face Rafael before murmuring a soft good night.  
“Night, Sonny.” Rafael answered after a moment, not sure if the detective was still awake.

~~~

The next morning Rafael unfortunately didn’t wake up as pleasantly as the last days because there was heavy rain falling against the small window. Sonny was standing in front of it, looking out into the dark clouds looming over the ocean.

“I guess today’s not a pool day.” Rafael grumbled while rubbing his eyes.  
“Not really no. But the forecast is saying that it’s gonna stop raining in the late afternoon so it’ll be nice to hang out outside again tomorrow.” Sonny confidently said, turning around to face Rafael. He was still not wearing a shirt so that at least was a pleasant view for Rafael this morning.

After the failure at the rock climbing yesterday, Rafael decided it might actually not be so bad to check out the gym on the ship. And considering the weather, today was the perfect day for it.  
Sonny had already walked off to somewhere else on the ship, apparently not in the mood to spend the day with Rafael.  
But when he arrived at the gym Sonny was already there. And so was Amanda who Sonny had apparently decided to work out with.

Sonny was dressed in a light grey shirt and black sports shorts and was currently using one of the training benches for sit ups while Amanda was doing a workout with the dumbbells provided in front of the mirror that covered one of the walls of the gym.  
There were a few more people scattered around the gym but it was surprisingly empty considering the weather outside.

Sonny then finally spotted him and smiled at him brightly “Oh hi Rafael, you coming to join us?”  
“Uh yeah, I realised I need a bit of exercise after yesterday.” Rafael replied and then made his way over to one of the treadmills.  
Rafael had only been using the treadmill for a few minutes when Amanda said good bye and left, but the two had been there a bit earlier than Rafael after all.

“Hey Raf, do you wanna help me with this?” Sonny had made his way over to a barbell set and eyed the training bench there apparently wanting to lie down.  
“Yeah sure.” Rafael had just finished his exercise on the treadmill, unfortunately not looking as good as earlier with his hair and shirt already sweaty.  
As Rafael was wiping down his face, Sonny used that moment to decide to pull his shirt off and now standing in front of Rafael with a naked torso for the second time that time.

“Cat got your tongue?” Sonny asked with a smirk, catching Rafael’s eyes being focused on Sonny’s chest. “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before these past days.”  
Rafael felt his cheeks heat up even more at that comment. “It’s nice to look at.” He mumbled in reply but keeping his head down.

Watching Sonny work out with the barbell was mesmerising, Rafael had to pinch himself a few times to focus on the task at hand but he really didn’t mind the view. Rafael really needed to get a grip if he wanted to survive the rest of the trip.

Sonny left Rafael alone after that exercise, wanting to use the shower first while Rafael continued on to some more machines.  
When Rafael got back to the room, Sonny was already lying on the bed in a t-shirt and shorts browsing through a magazine.

“What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” Rafael asked curiously because the weather unfortunately limited their possibilities.  
But the other man just shrugged, clearly having no ideas either. “Uh I honestly don’t know yet. But I don’t really wanna stay here so maybe I’ll sit down somewhere else with my book or so.”  
“We can head to the library after I showered if you want, I think they also had some games there too.” Rafael suggested, also hoping not to spend too much of the day in their tiny room.  
“Really?! That’d be cool!” Sonny answered excitedly, looking like he was ready to go in that second.  
“I’ll have to shower first but afterwards sure.” Rafael smiled back at him before making use of their mini bathroom.

They actually found a quiet corner in the library later and a chess board too. They had both admitted to being a bit of a fan of the game and it was perfect for the two of them to play.  
Liv and Amanda had joined them a bit later too both with a book in hand. Fin had apparently already made a friend yesterday and was hanging out with him today so the detective was no where to be seen.

After two rounds of chess and a few rounds of a card game that Rafael was sure Sonny had invented in that moment, the afternoon was already drawing to an end.  
But just as Rafael was hoping that he’d be spared any group activities today, Olivia was ready to destroy that hope.

“As it turns out part of our deal is also one dinner for two in the very fancy restaurant at the back of the ship. But it’s only for two for some reason so we’ll have to choose again.”  
“I’m pretty sure Sonny and I deserve that considering we have to share a room for the whole trip.” Rafael chimed in immediately, realising too late what that actually meant.  
The four detectives, Fin had made it back to them eventually too, looked at him surprised.  
“I- Sure, I wouldn’t mind.” Sonny agreed hesitantly but with a soft smile on his lips.  
“Okay that seems like a quick decision. Does anyone have any objections? I don’t really have anything appropriate to wear for that restaurant anyway so I’m okay with it.” Olivia looked at the other two detectives but they agreed too.  
“Well have fun you two!” Amanda exclaimed with a grin on her lips, bumping Sonny lightly in the shoulder who just glared back at her.  
Olivia just gave Rafael a reassuring smile and squeezed his shoulder before walking off with the other two, wanting to get ready for their own dinner.

“I hope it was okay that I kinda decided this for us two.” Rafael looked at Sonny across the room while he was tying his tie and Sonny was trying to get a wrinkle out of his suit jacket.  
“Yes sure, I’d never say no to a nice dinner. Especially when I’ll have such good company.” Sonny had that soft smile on his lips again that Rafael was sure could melt his heart if he saw it more often.

When they got to the restaurant, it turned out that this was not only a dinner for two but clearly also meant as a romantic dinner considering the candle and single rose in a small vase that was only on a few selected tables in the room. Their table was directly at the window which gave them an immense view of the ocean around them.  
The clouds had let up a bit so that the sun was peaking out between them just as it was about to set.

“This is a bit of a surprise.” Rafael gestured to the candle and rose before them.  
“Yeah I guess. But it’s nice and I mean the view is already worth it.” Rafael wasn’t sure if Sonny really meant the ocean with that because as he said the last part his eyes actually locked with Rafael’s. Sonny’s eyes weren’t as wild as the ocean but definitely as beautiful. And Rafael let himself finally just enjoy the presence of the other man and the very real feelings that were blooming between them. Because over the past days Sonny had shown him several times that Rafael wasn’t the only one that felt something there and it was probably just a matter of time before they both broke.

The dinner was fantastic and the company was quite pleasant too and they also might have enjoyed a few more glasses of wine than usual.  
Rafael wouldn’t say they were drunk when they made their way back to their room but definitely slightly tipsy.  
“This was amazing tonight, Raf.”  
“It’s cute when you call me that.” Rafael smiled at him. He usually hated nicknames but hearing it so softly from Sonny’s lips was something different.

Sonny’s lips were also the ones distracting him from opening their room door.  
Before he could do anything about it though, Sonny leaned down and place a soft kiss on his cheek.  
“Thank you, Rafael.”  
Rafael just smiled at Sonny, and Rafael was sure he never looked more in love.

But then Sonny broke the moment by putting his arm behind Rafael to slide his key card in the lock and open the door before walking past Rafael into the room.  
“Are you coming?” Sonny grinned at him from the middle of the room already undoing his tie.  
“Yes.” Rafael answered still smiling happily, stepping in and closing the door behind him.

~~~

The next morning they woke up in a different position than usually. This time it wasn’t Sonny who was lying over Rafael but rather Rafael was using Sonny’s chest as a pillow.  
They had fallen asleep quite quickly last night, maybe a bit closer than the nights before but not all over each other but they still had ended up like this. Not that Rafael minded because Sonny was a very good pillow.

“Good Morning, Raf.” Sonny murmured and then placed a soft kiss in Rafael’s hair.  
Nothing more had happened yesterday except the kiss on the cheek in front of their room so this was a nice surprise. Rafael hadn’t been sure if Sonny would still feel the same about the last evening in the morning as he had felt directly afterwards.

“Morning, Sonny.” Rafael slowly lifted his head to look up at Sonny who was looking down at him, one eye closed due to the sun shining through the window.  
But that didn’t stop Sonny from leaning down and before he knew it soft lips were on his own. Sonny was about to pull away after that short press of lips against lips but Rafael lifted himself up and put his hands on both sides of Sonny’s face to pull him close again.

They had to break the kiss eventually because they both had started smiling too hard. Rafael didn’t think he had ever felt that happy with someone before.  
“Now it definitely is a good morning.” Sonny smiled and leaned down for another soft peck on the lips.

“Do you know what the plans are today?”  
“I think there’s something in the afternoon but til then we’re free.” Sonny grinned at him.  
After that it took them another half an hour to get out of bed.  
Sonny had suggested they can go to the pool area again after breakfast maybe check out the hot tubs that Fin had tried out on Monday.

By the time they got to breakfast the others had already finished theirs and were no where to be seen which left Sonny and Rafael all by themselves.  
Olivia texted them after breakfast that Amanda and her were gonna check out the spa area while Fin was off to some games with his new found friend.

So the two of them were happy to know the others would not be in the pool area. Neither of them were very keen to already let the others know about the new development in their relationship so with them out of the way they could still sit a bit closer in the hot tub than strictly necessary. And most importantly share some sweet kisses. Rafael was sure he could just live the rest of his life kissing Sonny and he wouldn’t need anything else to be happy. Rafael felt the butterflies in his stomach flying in hearts every time Sonny kissed him.

Unfortunately Olivia informed them as they were having lunch at the pool bar again that they were gonna have another group activity in the afternoon. And texted the name of a room where they were supposed to meet in an hour which meant Rafael and Sonny had to hurry up if they wanted to shower first.  
Rafael did play with the thought of asking Sonny to shower together but then decided he’d prefer a more romantic setting for their first sexual encounter together so he let the other man go first.

Olivia hadn’t specified what exactly they were supposed to wear so Rafael had chosen one of his polo and khaki sets again and Sonny was wearing one of his Hawaiian shirts again, this time in red with white flowers so not quite as bad as the one from the first day.

The other detectives were already there when they arrived.  
“We’ll have a dancing class this afternoon. It’s not just for us, there will be other people there as well but we’ll get instructions and all although I know some of you all already know how to dance.” She looked pointedly at Rafael who just grinned in response.  
“We’ll have to pair up again and well one of us has to find a new partner again but I’m sure we’ll manage.”

She looked at the three men in the group, probably expecting them to choose between Olivia and Amanda and deciding who will have to go looking. But Rafael felt Sonny’s hand on the small of his back as Olivia looked at them and leaned into the touch and Sonny’s side before looking up at the other man who smiled down at him. Oh how he wished he could kiss him again now.  
“I think we’re good.” Rafael said as Sonny slid his hand from Rafael’s back into Rafael’s waiting hand.

Olivia looked at them surprised for a second but then shrugged and smiled proudly at them. Rafael knew they probably hadn’t fooled her even a second but maybe the other two detectives wouldn’t immediately realise what was going on.  
Olivia eventually paired up with Fin as Amanda had been asked by another man to dance.

“Do you think they know?” Sonny asked Rafael after they had made it to the other end of the room or as far away from the squad as possible.  
“Olivia definitely yes.” Rafael shrugged but squeezing Sonny’s hand reassuringly.  
Before they could exchange more words, the instructor started the class although Rafael barely listened as he already knew how to dance.  
“Have you danced before?” He asked Sonny who looked at him sheepishly in response.  
“A little bit, I know like a waltz and so but not a lot more.”  
“Okay I’ll show you.” Rafael smiled up at him. He usually didn’t have the patience for a dance partner who could dance a lot less than him but Sonny was an exception once again.

The class actually started with a waltz so Sonny could keep up with Rafael.  
Rafael had to admit that having the other man so close in his arms was the best part of it anyway.  
After the instructions were done the teacher had put on a few songs to dance to, telling them to try out what they’ve learned.

Rafael felt Sonny’s breath against his ear the whole time. And sometimes heard him softly murmuring the beat.  
“You’re doing great.” Rafael said quietly, placing a soft kiss right next to Sonny’s ear.  
“Thanks. You’re a good partner.” Sonny had lifted his head a bit and was now looking in his Rafael’s eyes again. And also at his lips.  
“I wish I could kiss you right now.” Sonny murmured leaning his head forward and pulling Rafael closer so that their foreheads could touch.  
“I wouldn’t mind getting out of here.” Rafael replied.  
Sonny had close his eyes for a moment but now they snapped open again and Rafael was sure he could see the desire in his eyes.  
“You sure?”  
Rafael just lifted his head to nod and then gently pulled at Sonny’s hand to lead him to an exit.

They barely made it outside the door before Sonny was pushing him up against a wall capturing his lips and licking into his mouth.  
Rafael couldn’t help the groan escaping his lips. Sonny had his hands pinned against the wall next to his head so he moved the part of the body he still could.  
He widened his stand before moving his hips forward pushing their groins together. Sonny moved his lips to Rafael’s neck at that and moaned into Rafael’s shoulder.  
When Rafael moved his hips again Sonny got the hint and dropped Rafael’s arms to grab him by the back of thighs and lift him off the ground only to push him even harder against the wall.

“Sonny... Sonny... let’s get to our room.” Rafael panted out while he was sure Sonny was marking up his whole neck.  
Sonny slowly let Rafael down on the ground again, chasing a few softer kisses before finally speaking up.  
“Probably not a bad idea” he chuckled breathlessly.

Sonny collapsed on top of him afterwards after he pulled out, breathing heavily.  
“This was awesome, Raf.”  
“You could say that yes. You’re not so bad, Sonny.” Rafael grinned at him, looking side ways at Sonny’s face next to his. “But I also really wanna get cleaned up.”  
Sonny just grumbled at that, clearly not willing to move just yet.

“What do you say to skipping dinner? We can order room service.”  
“As long as you get me some food somehow after this, I’m okay with skipping dinner.” Rafael pressed a kiss to Sonny’s cheek with a smile before grabbing his phone from the nightstand to let Olivia know.  
Who just send him back an okay with a smirking emoji. 

As he put his phone away, Sonny finally moved off him, walking towards the bathroom with heavy steps while tying the condom up.  
Rafael let out a warm chuckle letting his head drop back onto the bed. This trip had turned out quite differently than he had expected but he didn’t mind it at all.

~~~

The next morning Rafael once again awoke with Sonny as his pillow beneath him. They had fallen asleep in each other’s arms the night before after they had shared dinner on the bed.

His phone was chiming with a notification just as he rolled off Sonny onto his back.  
It was from Olivia again, letting them all know that as it was their last day, they were free to do whatever they want.

This brought to Rafael’s mind that he had no idea how they would continue this in New York. He wanted Sonny, so much. But he was not sure if the younger man would still want him outside of this wonderland of a cruise ship with no work and perfect weather and all the time in the world.  
Before those thoughts could sour his mood even more Rafael got out of bed to stretch and look outside to check how the weather was this morning.

“Good Morning, Rafael! You’re up early.” Sonny said sleepily from the bed.  
“Yeah couldn’t sleep anymore.”  
“Oh. Are you okay?” Rafael didn’t need to turn around to know that Sonny was looking at him with those concerned puppy eyes.  
“Yes all good, don’t worry.”

But the answer didn’t seem to satisfy Sonny as he got out of bed to stand behind Rafael, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling his neck.  
“You know you can talk to me, Raf.”  
“Yeah I know. I just need my coffee, Sonny.” He turned around in Sonny’s arms and tried to smile as naturally as possible before pecking Sonny softly on the lips and getting out of his arms to change.

They managed to join the others at the same time for breakfast.  
Rafael knew that Olivia knew what happened last night which explained the happy grin on her face upon seeing the two join them for breakfast.  
But the happy look quickly turned into one of concern as she recognised Rafael’s mood because she unfortunately knew him too well.

“What happened?” Olivia asked as soon as Amanda had dragged Sonny over to the buffet.  
“You know what happened.” Rafael replied simply.  
“Okay let me rephrase, why are you in such a bad mood considering what happened.”  
Rafael hesitated before answering, “Because it’s the last day.”  
“And?”  
Rafael sighed at Olivia’s follow up question.  
“And that means that this cruise will be over tomorrow and we will go back to New York and he’ll realise I’m just a grumpy old man and not worth his time and leave like all the other before him did and yes I’m maybe in too deep already so I’m not taking it well.”  
Rafael barely took a breath during his little ramble and now took a big gulp of his coffee.

“Wow that’s quite something. And how do you know that’ll happen? Did he say that?” Olivia nodded in Sonny’s general direction.  
“No. But I know he thinks that.”  
“And how do you know that that’s what he thinks? Because as far as I’m concerned and considering the way he looks at you — not just here but also in New York — he definitely doesn’t think that. Talk to him.”  
Rafael just grumbled in reply but was also luckily saved from more of Olivia’s questions because Sonny and Amanda returned from the buffet. 

Rafael hated how the sight of the other man made his heart skip and he was sure he always looked a bit love drunk when he saw the other man.  
Olivia looked at him with a knowing smirk before getting up to go to the buffet herself.  
Sonny took that opportunity to claim Olivia’s seat and slide next to Rafael on the bench.

“Hey, you okay? You can go now too if you want.” Sonny motioned towards the buffet but Rafael wasn’t that hungry anymore. After what Olivia said he really wanted to talk to Sonny but maybe not in the middle of a breakfast room. As much as he hoped Olivia was right and it would go well, Rafael was terribly afraid of being rejected by the other man and considered as just a holiday fling and that made his stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Yeah I’m okay. Can we maybe have some alone time again after breakfast?” Rafael asked tentatively.  
“Yes sure.” Sonny replied immediately, squeezing his thigh reassuringly under the table before focusing on his food.  
Rafael stole a few fruit from Sonny’s plate but stuck to his coffee for the rest of breakfast happy to just watch the younger man engage with the others.

“What did you wanna talk about?” Sonny was sitting on their bed looking up at Rafael who was walking up and down the small space they have.  
“Do you think this — us can be a thing in New York?” Rafael finally had stopped pacing to stand in front of Sonny who now looked at him confused.  
“Yes of course, why not? Do you not think so?” His smile completely faded now and he dropped his head.  
“No no no, I do. I’d love that a lot actually.” Rafael tried to reassure quickly, gently lifting Sonny’s head up again with his fingers.

“But...?”  
“But I wasn’t sure if you really want it. I mean I’m old, grumpy, work too much, drink too much, basically don’t have a social life, not to mention that we’re coworkers.”  
“The last one sounds like the only problem to me here and I’m sure that can be solved quiet easily too with some disclosure forms. So yes I definitely want it, Rafael, I want you and have a relationship with you.” Sonny smiled up at him but tilting his head a little bit, the insecurity still clearly written across his face.  
“Okay.” Rafael slowly started smiling at that. “Okay, yes I want that too yes.” Rafael was smiling brightly at Sonny now and Sonny held his arms out to pull Rafael into his lap and kiss him.

“I’m glad we could clear this up because I want you so much, Raf.” Sonny squeezed him reassuringly as they had fallen onto the bed, Rafael laying on top of Sonny.  
“I’m very happy. And sorry for misjudging your commitment to this.”  
“No problem, I’m glad you asked about it. I’ve wanted this so long with you Rafael, you cannot imagine.”  
“I can because I did too.” Sonny smiled brightly at him again, his dimples showing deeply before placing kisses all over Rafael’s face which made him giggle.

Rafael was happy to stay like that all morning and so they did.  
Only around lunch time did they decide to leave their room again and agreed to hang out on one of the upper decks hoping to find one of the sofas unoccupied to enjoy the weather, their books and each other.

They had both decided that it was okay for Amanda and Fin to actively find out about them too, not wanting to bother with having to hide for their last day. Although Rafael was pretty sure that they had figured it out themselves already.  
This was confirmed when Amanda caught up to them while they were walking towards the sofa area.

“There you are, you two lovebirds. Where are you going?”  
“We were hoping to find a free sofa to relax” Sonny replied motioning to the area in front of them.  
“Oh cool, mind if I join you.”  
Sonny looked at Rafael slightly panicked unsure if the other man would be fine with it but Rafael just sighed before nodding.

They managed to find a corner with a small sofa for the two of them and an armchair for Amanda.  
Luckily for the both of them she didn’t seem to want to annoy them too much about their relationship just now but Rafael was sure, Sonny would get an ear full as soon as they were back in New York.

After the slight stress of the morning whether Sonny would want him or not, Rafael was happy to cuddle up to the other man and take a short nap on his chest while he flipped through the pages of his book.

After dinner later that evening and only one drink at the bar the two of them excused themselves to their room. The others had insisted that they all had a drink together as it was their last night and Sonny clearly wanted to stay with them for a moment longer so Rafael hadn’t dragged Sonny away immediately after dinner.

Making love was probably the best description of their night this time. Because Rafael was sure he never felt so much love for someone else before during sex.  
Rafael couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy as he was lying there later that night with his arms wrapped around Sonny while the other man pressed soft kisses into his chest before resting his head there.

~~~

On their last morning Rafael woke to the smell of coffee in his nose.  
“Good Morning Sonny.” Rafael murmured reaching out for the other man without opening his eyes but only feeling sheets.  
So he slowly blinked his eyes open.

There was a tray with two cups of coffees, a plate with fruit and a plate with two croissants and some jams on the nightstand next to him but Sonny was nowhere to be seen.

“Sonny?” He called out. And just as he was about to ask again Sonny stumbled out of the bathroom still tying his sweatpants at the waistband.  
“Ah good morning, Raf, sorry I was on the toilet. Sorry I missed you waking up.” Sonny quickly walked over to Rafael after having fixed his sweatpants and leaned down to give him a soft kiss.  
“As you can see, I brought breakfast.” He motioned to the tray on the nightstand. “I thought we could have something special on our last morning on the cruise and thought we could eat breakfast in bed. I hope that’s okay with you.”  
“Yes of course. I’m happy to, I was just wondering where you went.” Rafael chuckled before pulling Sonny onto the bed with him.  
Which wasn’t that successful considering the lankiness of the other man but after a few more stolen kisses they managed to sit side by side leaning against the headboard.

“Do you know when we’ll arrive again?” Rafael asked between bites of croissant.  
“I think in like an hour or so, so yeah we should start packing soon.” Sonny laughed pointing at the chaos that was his suitcase.  
“And then straight to the airport, right?”  
“Yeah exactly, I think there’s a car picking us up but I think it’ll take some time to get to the airport.”  
Rafael sighed at that, remembering that he’d be back at the DA’s office on Monday and probably will have to catch up on a hundred mails tomorrow already.

“Well it had to end at some point I guess.”  
“That’s true but we did get quite something out of it.” Sonny grinned before placing his coffee cup on the nightstand and leaning over Rafael to kiss him again. First on the mouth and then slowly creating a trail of kisses down his chest to the waistband of his boxers before looking up at Rafael again. Rafael just nodded as a sign to go ahead, knowing fully well that he couldn’t resist Sonny.

The packing had to be done in a bit of a haste afterwards but neither of them minded too much.  
Only Olivia was slightly annoyed with them as they arrived in the lobby ten minutes later than the agreed meeting time.  
But she let it slide, seeing how the two looked at each other.  
While she had known about Rafael’s interest in Sonny, she hadn’t expected something to happen anytime soon but the trip had apparently given them the last little push they had needed and she was incredibly happy for them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!
> 
> You can find me on twitter @ndrwsctt.


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